Senators voted on Thursday to establish a right to be forgotten for former cancer patients. The measure aims to facilitate their access to insurance and mortgage loans.
One in two patients recover from cancer in France. This rate is constantly increasing, thanks to years of research and millions of euros invested, driven in particular by the three successive “cancer plans”. But society moves slower than science, and former patients are often referred to their illnesses. To borrow money, a former patient is obliged to declare his illness, which automatically classifies him in the category of borrowers “at risk”. His insurance can be up to 200% higher than the average. A real “cancer criminal record” feared almost as much as the disease itself, according to Professor Jacqueline Godet, president of the League against cancer.
After a first measure passed by Parliament and deemed too restrictive by patient associations, the Senate therefore decided to go further, by generalizing the period of the right to be forgotten to ten years, a period shortened to five years for patients under the age of 18; and those whose “overall net five-year survival rate is greater than or equal to that of those under 18”. Another measure voted by the deputies: the contracts will not be able to cumulate any more increase of tariffs and exclusions of guarantees. The measure should thus better protect borrowers.
A reference grid
The timeframe for the right to be forgotten will therefore vary depending on the type of cancer and the treatment protocol. It will be “clearly set out in a reference grid,” says InCa (National Cancer Institute), which should publish this grid at the end of the year. The system should be updated according to scientific progress in order to best adapt the period of the right to be forgotten for all former cancer patients.
Other pathologies could benefit from this right to be forgotten in the future, such as chronic diseases (HIV, kidney failure, etc.)
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